The automation of industries that rely on multi-step processing systems had led to increased efficiency, reduced economic loss, greater value returns on raw resources, as well as improved time efficiency and system accuracy. The natural gas processing and sampling industry benefits from automation in the same way. Many aspects of the gas processing and sampling industry are currently automated.
Though many aspects of the process are automated, automation is currently absent specifically in the level detection and purging of condensate by-product containment reservoirs of gas sampling and conditioning systems. The current technological state in the context of energy fuels and particularly, natural gas production, results in decreased system efficiency. Specifically, unautomated waste containment reservoirs that receive the condensate dropout from gas conditioning lines increase costs and contribute to adverse environmental impact, resource use efficiency, labor, and regulatory compliance.
In the context of systems used for gas sampling, conditioning, and analysis, a sample is conditioned at designated temperature, pressure, and flow rate to be passed through the analyzer. For example, gas chromatography is a conventional method for sample analysis in such systems. In the gas analysis step, a small proportion of the total conditioned stream is used for analysis. The remainder of the gas stream passes through the analyzer and requires downstream disposal. The vaporized content of the gas line typically condenses downstream of the analyzer due to temperature and pressure reductions where the liquid dropout may be collected in a reservoir. In the case that the collection vessel or reservoir fills beyond capacity, a backup results that may damage the analyzer. Therefore, a need exists to minimize the risk of condensate back up into the reservoir vent header.
In the absence of waste containment automation, the drainage of condensate containment reservoirs in particular can result in environmentally harmful methods of waste disposal such as flaring or venting, draining and dumping. As the markets for cleaner energy from natural gas output grow, the effects of fugitive gas released throughout the natural gas production process is of increasing concern.
Release of potentially harmful wastes during, for example, the processing of natural gas conditioning, contributes to the problems relating to pollution that result from unmediated disposal practices. For example, gas flaring generates heat and noise that can be disruptive to the surrounding environment and unnecessarily consumes products that have the potential for reintroduction in the processing system or disposal of in a more environmentally sound manner. Gas flaring also often requires a pilot light type flame to be constantly burning, exposing the system to unnecessary susceptibility to the risk of unexpected combustion.
Detrimental impacts result from immediate release by dumping or draining of liquid dropout by-products directly to the ground and the surrounding environment. However, the participant risks potential liability, both civil and criminal, based on the particular circumstances. Automation of condensate containment reservoir drainage will decrease a system's dependence on inefficient and potentially unlawful methods of disposal by directing the system to controllably release a predesignated amount of condensate to a designated source under pre-specified conditions.
Additionally, byproducts of natural gas processing may have intrinsic value, particularly in view of the progress in reclamation technology. Therefore, unrestricted disposal may, in fact, lead to avoidable economic loss. Economic value can be derived by collecting such liquid dropout byproduct materials previously regarded as waste, for reclamation, recycling, or further processing, thus making the cost of inefficient draining and lost resources even greater. The industry will benefit from the development of an automatic control that allows a processing system to more consistently, precisely, and accurately measure and direct the liquid condensate byproduct that is formed as a result of natural gas processing.
Efficiency is decreased when a system has to rely on manual labor for completion of certain tasks. An example of manual intervention currently implemented in this field is where a reservoir tank features a sight glass allowing a maintenance engineer to view the contents of the tank, informing him or her to make a determination whether to initiate the containment reservoir purging process. Requiring manual observation of the levels of condensate inside a containment reservoir and manual intervention to cause purging of the reservoir system results in unnecessary costs to the industry, while also introducing a greater probability for user error or undesirable outcomes. Automation of the system tank purging will also reduce the probability of undesirable overfilling, flooding, and liquid back-up from the reservoir that can result from inattentive visual observation. The automation of the containment reservoir level control step additionally would allow the system to maintain accurate record-keeping of the rate of flow and volume of condensate output of a reservoir tank via maintenance of a record of the level sensor signal events.
Therefore, a need exists for improvement to the presently accepted and commonly used systems and methods of detection of waste containment reservoir levels to ensure that disposal is done in more efficient and practicable ways. Specifically, a need exists for an automatic control for reservoir container waste levels.